Developing Positive Classroom Pride

One of the most important elements that teachers should consider when trying to generate a positive learning environment, is developing teacher-students relations. All the students like to feel valued by their teachers, and know that they care for them. These relations are built through time and actions that consolidate the bonding between the two parts, and it ends up being a very important part when trying to establish discipline, safety, and enjoyment in the class.

There are plenty of strategies that teachers can follow when trying to build these relations with the students, and one of the most effective and useful ones is developing positive classroom pride. Achieving to create an environment in where the students are proud of performing and behaving according to the expectations or higher, is a very powerful accomplishment. Whenever the students take pride in their work, learning and development come together with it.

Developing this positive classroom pride can result challenging depending on the group of students or characteristics of the teacher, but here are some of the strategies that can help achieving it:

Display Student Work is a very good way of demonstrating the students that their work is recognized and has value to their teacher. By hanging the students’ work on a bulletin board or a poster, the teacher is helping to build self-esteem among the students, and creating situations for the students to proudly demonstrate their abilities to the rest of the school.

Positively reinforcing students verbally creates a positive impact in the students, that receive a recognition for their good behavior or work, which generates a stronger self-esteem and a feeling of pride.

Developing pride in all areas. Teachers can provide recognition and generate pride among the students in very different situations, and given the diversity existing in the classrooms, having a wide variety of opportunities for the students to excel, is important. Teachers can provide recognition to effort, to test scores, to attitudes, to manners, etc.

Developing parental pride in student accomplishments is anther way of extending pride taken in class and having parents involved in their children’s activities at school. The parental figures can create a big impact in the students’ self esteem, and when this influence is oriented towards recognizing the student’s effort, is a very meaningful confidence boost.

All of them can be combined or presented at the same time, but the importance of making students proud of their work and receiving recognition to their effort, is an important factor that influences the students’ attitude towards classes.